CPRE comment on Article 50

With Article 50 being triggered today we are now formally on the road to leaving the EU. It’s a political process that few organisations and issues won’t be affected by in some way or another. For CPRE, farming and broader environmental regulation will be among the negotiations that we’ll be watching closely.

CPRE has joined forces with 12 other major environmental organisations to form Greener UK. Between us, we have a combined public membership of 7.9 million and the belief that leaving the EU is a pivotal moment to restore and enhance the UK’s environment.

Greener UK is looking at four key areas for our environment: food and farming; fisheries and marine; climate and energy; and environment and wildlife laws. Together we have produced a manifesto, setting out the eight actions necessary to make the vision of a greener UK a reality. There are three core areas in the manifesto:

secure the benefits of existing environmental laws as the UK leaves the European Union, and pass an ambitious new Environment Act

secure the UK’s global climate leadership

introduce new policies and investment that create thriving farming and fishing industries

Leaving the EU poses significant risks, but it also provides an unprecedented opportunity to revitalise our countryside in a way that better meets the needs of people and the environment, for generations to come. This is the chance to create new and ambitious policies that are fair to farmers and taxpayers, and provide real value for money. Greener UK will continue to lobby throughout the Brexit process so do look out for further updates.

To find out more about our work as part of Greener UK, read our blog post: Going for green